Campus Alert Archive
ASU

Student Stabs Classmate Multiple Times in Sands Classroom Building -- Hundreds Nearby Receive No Alert

AZstabbingadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At approximately 11:45 a.m. on September 19, 2024, a female student stabbed a classmate multiple times in the Sands Classroom Building at ASU's West Valley campus in Glendale, Arizona. The suspect, Kaci Sloan, had planned the attack the night before and did not know the victim beyond her first name. Many students nearby received no emergency notification via email, text, or the LiveSafe app, sparking criticism of ASU's geofenced alert system at smaller satellite campuses.

Alerts
1
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
Arizona State University
Public R1 · AZ
ASU LiveSafe / ASU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTapp
Approximate reconstruction126 chars
ASU Alert: Police activity at the West Valley campus Sands Classroom Building. Avoid the area as first responders investigate.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

ASU classified the notification as an 'advisory' rather than an emergency notification, meaning it was geofenced to users near the Glendale campus rather than sent to the entire 80,000-student ASU community
Many students on and near the West Valley campus reported receiving no notification at all via email, text, or the LiveSafe app
The suspect was detained within minutes by witnesses at the scene, so ASU characterized the incident as over with 'no ongoing threat'
Context

Background

Arizona State University's West Valley campus in Glendale, Arizona, is a smaller satellite campus of approximately 2,400 students. On the morning of September 19, 2024, Kaci Sloan, a female student, entered the classroom of a student she barely knew and began stabbing her without provocation. Sloan had decided the night before to 'hurt somebody' and later admitted that she selected the victim -- Mara Daffron, a sophomore studying sports business -- knowing only her first name. Two classmates physically restrained Sloan until ASU police arrived and took her into custody. Daffron was stabbed multiple times on the left side of her body and required surgery on a punctured spleen. Despite the severity of the attack, ASU's emergency communications failed to reach most students at the campus -- the incident was over so quickly that the university issued only a limited geofenced advisory rather than a campus-wide alert. The Arizona State Press reported that students found out about the attack through social media rather than official channels, reigniting debate about ASU's tiered alert system and its adequacy for satellite campuses. Sloan was later sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree murder.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Student stabbed in ASU West Valley campus classroom -- Arizona State Press
    statepress.com
  2. Student Paper
    ASU student was stabbed in a classroom, students nearby never received alert -- Arizona State Press
    statepress.com
  3. News
    Student planned to attack classmate before stabbing at ASU West -- AZ Family
    azfamily.com
  4. Student Paper
    Former ASU student sentenced to 11 years for West Valley campus stabbing -- Arizona State Press
    statepress.com
Tags
stabbingarizonapublic-r1satellite-campusalert-failurepremeditatedclassroomgeofenced-alertwest-valley
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion